The film stars Gary Oldman in the role of George Smiley, the former intelligence expert who is called out of forced retirement to hunt down a Russian mole in the Secret Intelligence Service.

During its opening weekend, the film took GBP 2.8 million at the UK box office, more than double the second-placed film, The Inbetweeners, and four times the amount taken by the new film adaptation of Charlotte Bronte'sJane Eyre.

Its popularity can be attributed in part to the almost universal acclaim the film received following the Venice Film Festival and subsequent preview screenings, with film critics praising Oldman's 'quietly intense' portrayal of the protagonist.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy has been adapted once before, as a seven-part TV series in 1979, with Alec Guinness in the role of George Smiley and Ian Richarson as Bill Haydon.